A bunch of screenshots allegedly from DOOM 4 have surfaced, you can view these over on All Games Beta where they add: "Rumor: Doom 4 cancelled" with no further explanation. This doesn't seem a very substantial rumor, but Game Informer's Jim Reilly tweets it was worthy of debunking: "Bethesda says Doom 4 is not canceled" (thanks Xbox 360 - The Official Magazine). This is not the first rumor about d Software's upcoming shooter sequel that parent Bethesda has addressed in recent months, as in October they denied reports that the game was indefinitely postponed due to problems with the launch of RAGE.

Spektr wrote on Mar 1, 2012, 09:22:Maybe those are screenshots from Half life 3? :p

Seriously, I read at the Rage engine is not competitive. How relevant is that comment? Why would an engine need to be competitive? Most developers make their own engines nowadays. Who licenses their technology nowadays, except epic and to a lesser extent crytech?Is the skyrim engine even remotely competitive to the first crysis engine?Personally I am tired of seeing the same engine over and over again. ( yes the Unreal 3 engine ) With its limitations the rage engine was a departure from the conformism that has pervaded in the video game business lately.

id has always licensed their engines; they make a great deal of money off of it.

Seriously, I read at the Rage engine is not competitive. How relevant is that comment? Why would an engine need to be competitive? Most developers make their own engines nowadays. Who licenses their technology nowadays, except epic and to a lesser extent crytech?Is the skyrim engine even remotely competitive to the first crysis engine?Personally I am tired of seeing the same engine over and over again. ( yes the Unreal 3 engine ) With its limitations the rage engine was a departure from the conformism that has pervaded in the video game business lately.

Their response, "Piracy!" Wah Wah. They don't understand people will pay for a game that's good and WORTH the $60 they charge.

Yeah that is some astounding stuff. Those PC scum that pirated their games so much, that it enabled their company parking lot to look like an exotic sports car dealership.

LITERALLY.

Doom 4 with exclusive 360 content, expect the PC release a year later. Teach us pirating scum to steal your games ID. Wash your founding fanbase under the sea like Epic did, we only got you to where you are today.

To be honest, they don't seem to bare any relation to either game. I'd suggest it's a RAGE mod but id Software reneged on its promise that the mods tools would ship with the game. And last I checked the console is still disabled after one of the patches, so they game has actually lost functionality since release.

Agrajag wrote on Feb 29, 2012, 10:25:But, I see absolutely no reason to assume they are Doom4 shots at all...

And, in fact, that Doom billboard in one of the shots pretty much cements it for me that these can't possibly be from Doom4... Do you really think they'd place a reference to Doom, the videogame series, inside of a Doom game?? That'd kind of destroy the immersion and suspension of disbelief, don't you think? It'd just be stupid of them to do... But, a reference to Doom within a different id game? That makes perfect sense...

Kajetan wrote on Feb 29, 2012, 11:09:What should a screenshot have to look like to arouse any "Doom feeling"? :

Come on, that's painfully obvious.

Giant halls covered in pentagrams filled with 100s of monsters trying to destroy the player.

Doom 3's visual theme wasn't bad (too much sci-fi, not enough disemboweled humans hanging by chains in the pits of hell), it was the gameplay execution that sucked.

I think it's likely these leaked shots are from Rage DLC, but people entertaining the idea they might be from Doom and being OK with that...yikes. Generic post-apocalyptic human settings are lacking the religious overtones (endless satanic references in Doom) and the B-grade horror movie maze maps that defied logic. What have car wrecks got to do with Doom.

Doom was about entering large maps with hordes of monsters trying to kill you at once. Somewhere ID became convinced Doom was about stealth gameplay, creeping about, having one monster materialize and "scare" you. Nothing to do with the original's massed hellish battles in cavernous chambers of death.

Ah yes "but sprites and the simple bsp tech of doom's engine allowed for large scale everything, new tech does not" (not sure if anyone here is implying that, but it's an argument I've heard in the past). Well why don't ID develop something closer to what Doom was. Rage boasted large scale maps, but what you actually got was a small play area with a very elaborate backdrop. That backdrop added nothing to the gameplay yet consumed resources and reducing the quality of the small playable areas.

Kajetan wrote on Feb 29, 2012, 11:09:What should a screenshot have to look like to arouse any "Doom feeling"?

Those suburban maps could fit in the early city/factory maps of Doom 2, the more hellish maps, well, they do fit as well to a remake or reboot of Doom 2.

I see nothing "hellish" in any of those screenshots... I see no pentagrams or other demonic imagery... I see no dead bodies hanging from ceilings, or any other creepy evidence of demonic invasion whatsoever; all of which was oozing all over the place in Doom/Doom2... The destruction all appears like either the result of age and neglect, or some kind of generic Rage-like apocalypse... The only slightly creepy looking shots are the 2 with the red sky and some kind of black things swirling around, but even those hardly look demonic in any way... It looks more like an alien invasion or something...

Agrajag wrote on Feb 29, 2012, 10:25:But, I see absolutely no reason to assume they are Doom4 shots at all...

And, in fact, that Doom billboard in one of the shots pretty much cements it for me that these can't possibly be from Doom4... Do you really think they'd place a reference to Doom, the videogame series, inside of a Doom game?? That'd kind of destroy the immersion and suspension of disbelief, don't you think? It'd just be stupid of them to do... But, a reference to Doom within a different id game? That makes perfect sense...

theyarecomingforyou wrote on Feb 29, 2012, 10:11:My expectations were already low but despite that these screenshots still managed to disappoint me. I will of course keep an eye on the game and see how it turns out but all the warning signs are right there.

I'm not sure why you (and others) are so willing to believe these are really Doom screenshots... Like some others have said, they don't look like they have any relation to Doom whatsoever to ME... I'd say they're more likely shots of some upcoming Rage DLC or something... But, I don't get how anyone could look at them and think "These must be from Doom4!"... Just because some unknown blogger person claims they are (when they also at the same time make the proven incorrect claim that Doom4 is cancelled)?

IF they really were Doom4 shots, then yeah I'd be kind of worried as well, since they don't have any Doom feel to them whatsoever... But, I see absolutely no reason to assume they are Doom4 shots at all...

I hated Doom 3. Hated. Loathed.I didn't care enough about Rage to play it. Reviews/videos didn't make it seem like something I'd spend more than $20 on, and I have about 9 games in shrink wrap still and at least twice that unplayed on Steam.Maybe I'll get to Rage but unlikely.

But I won't say I won't play Doom 4, or that you'd have to pay me to play Doom 4. That's kind of dumb, no? I'll say I don't care about Doom 4 and won't follow Doom 4, but if it comes out and it's the best game ever made I won't act like I'll sit there with my arms crossed going "No, I hated their last two games so I won't play this one."

I mean, odds are I'll hate this one, and I have zero expectations, but I'm not going to sit here talking in absolutes.

Shineyguy wrote on Feb 29, 2012, 09:30:How about we all wait for id to OFFICIALLY release something before critically canning it?

As already stated, id Software has a poor track record, it's based on idTech 5 which had numerous technical problems and wasn't competitive with the rest of the industry and it so far bares absolutely no resemblance to any previous game in the franchise. You can usually tell what sort of gaming you're going to enjoy - from the earliest screenshots I was very unimpressed by Doom 3 and the final game proved my reservations correct.

Kajetan wrote on Feb 29, 2012, 09:34:You DO know, that Doom 4 (if this are real screens) is deep in an early alpha stage, that we probably see only map mockups for testing art design guide lines?

I'm well aware of that. But what else are we supposed to go on? Other companies hold back preview material for exactly this reason. But it's still possible to see where they're going with the game and the direction is not good.

My expectations were already low but despite that these screenshots still managed to disappoint me. I will of course keep an eye on the game and see how it turns out but all the warning signs are right there.